mixtape maestro (2.0)

After bringing about more than a few scratched heads over recent track “I Just Love You More”’s polarizing attempt at a punk chick makeover, Kate Nash makes the world right again with the welcomed return-to-(snarky/ perky)form that is new single, “Do Wah Doo”.

Helmed by producer, and former Suede guitarist, Bernard Butler (Duffy, Black Kids), “Do Wah Doo” buzzes with a playful jumbling of familiar ’60’s pop conventions (radiant girl group harmonies, handclaps, zinging surf guitar, blaring horns) all congealed into a thickened Wall of Sound.

Beneath the happy-go-lucky framing, however, things aren’t as sunny, as Kate is heard spewing all type of “hateration” towards a girl hogging the secret object of her affection’s eye. “Everybody thinks that girl’s a lady/ But I don’t, I think that girl’s shady,” Nash pouts on the sidelines, even going so far as to tag the crush-stealing cow a “bitch”.

Interestingly enough, just when you think she’s about to fight for her man “Jerry Springer”-style and get this fizzy pop confection the happy ending conclusion the upbeat arrangement all but demands, Nash opts to give him up, resigning to “read a book instead” because “I can hang out with myself”.

Hmmm…it’s not the most sassiest way to go out, but whatever, jerk’s loss; we’re just happy to have the undeniably catchy nugget-crafting Kate Nash we love back.

From her April-set second LP, My Best Friend Is You.

Uncategorized 60's, bernard butler, girl group, kate nash, my best friend is you, singer-songwriter, UK, uk pop

Previously heralded for sunny, handclap-laden singles that worked a Motown-influenced, ’60’s girl group pop bop angle with bliss-inducing results (“Add Your Light To Mine, Baby”, “Woah Billy”, “White Russian Doll”), Lucky Soul venture a bit darker sonically on new track “A Coming of Age”, the title cut from the British six-piece’s upcoming second set featuring lead singer Ali Howard’s coquettish coos housed within a dramatic display of waltz swing patterns and Bond-esque guitar figures.

The reason for all this grandiose hullabaloo? Some man done done Ali wrong, shattering her young heart and leaving her “cling(ing) to the floor”, fingering the still warm footprints that trace his pathway out of her life. “I thought a friend meant someone to depend on/ Call it a coming of age…come too late,” she sings, the brief pause before those last three words bulging with all kinds of unstated ache and confusion.

Awww. Makes you wanna pull her into a tight embrace and let her know that everything’s gonna be alright.

Pick it up below or as a free download from their website, then proceed to lift your spirits back up with a viewing of their peppy “White Russian Doll” clip.

A Coming of Age, the album, arrives April 19th through Ruffa Lane Records.

DL: “A Coming of Age” (alt)

Uncategorized 60's, girl group, indie pop, lucky soul, retro, UK

You would think that with Nina Sky covering one of the greatest pop records ever made, the twin sister duo would attempt to make it sound all “brand new” by attaching it’s classic script to some trendy, sub-genre sound (and because this group can virtually do no wrong in our eyes, we would’ve likely responded to such a remake with an overly giddy “THIS IS AWESOME!!!!”).

Much to our surprise though, the ladies opt on going the complete opposite route for their rendition of The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby”, stripping it down to a simple (and very classy) vocals and piano treatment that might have made for a touching lil’ Valentine’s Day hyperlink present to our significant others if A) we had caught onto it earlier and B) actually had significant others.

Oh well…it’s still quite beautiful.

DL: “Be My Baby” (alt)

Uncategorized 60's, cover song, girl group, nina sky, the ronettes

Much buzzed about Danish duo Quadron (singer Coco and musician/ producer Robin Hannibal) execute the simplistic delectation of old-school girl group pop to levels of sublime near-flawlessness on their new single “Pressure”.

From it’s perky, handclaps-horns-and-piano arrangement sending your toes into a tapping frenzy, to the doe-eyed tenderness encased in Coco’s vocal as she tries her best to get under her lover’s skin with little success, the sunny/ sad ditty twinkles with the irresistible contagiousness of a long-lost Supremes number or an early-era Mariah Carey single (you know, back before the “Obsessed”-diva grew an allergy to clothes and started hobnobbing with whatever hot rapper was around).

The band’s self-titled debut is currently available on iTunes, but will be released March 23rd everywhere else.

Uncategorized blue-eyed soul, denmark, girl group, quadron, retro

Not to beat a dead horse, but it’s still so amazingly dumbfounding how Nina Sky continually release such great material with none of it ever able to bubble into commercial success. This past year alone they’re unleashed at least two well-acclaimed tracks (“On Some Bullshit” and their heavily remixed Major Lazer/ Ricky Blaze collabo “Keep It Goin’ Louder”) that are deserving of topping some pop single chart somewhere in the galaxy instead of just being the blog-crit/ club sect sensations they are.

Really, what do these girls have to do to score another over-ground hit? Could nicking an old hook from the Hall & Oates’ platinum-lined catalog be the answer? Probably not, but if it’s any consolation, “Here He Comes”, the “Maneater”-biting third single from B-more club hero Tittsworth’s 12 Steps, has quickly risen up the rankings of our own personal Hot 100.

Tailor-made for a club-set scene in a CW tween soap, with Tittsworth’s light R&B-house thump carrying a distant bump as if to illustrate it’s source being outside the central camera shot, “Here He Comes” hones in on the inner-thoughts of Nicole and Natalie Albino, who are quietly going nuts as their crush casually brushes past them. “Tense up my body/ Can’t talk about it/ These feelings got me, got me…”, their forlorn harmonies trail off, the breathtaking appeal of their favorite boy so overwhelming, they’re rendered speechless.

The track carries such an alluring overall mood, that the fact that it breaks no new ground for the twins stylistically (these girls have managed to successfully marry every single human emotion possible to a “in the club” setting over the years), or that fellow featured guest Pitbull somewhat mars things with his needless misogyny (“I spread legs like a gynecologist”), don’t even begin to matter…all of which only makes it a bigger shame that “Here He Comes” likely won’t ever reach the massive audience it deserves.

You can sample the original below (in addition to a bonus Tittsworth remix of a beloved ’90’s R&B classic), but don’t forget to also cop the complete single EP, featuring remixes from AC Slater, Nadastrom, Stretch Armstrong & Jaimie Fanatic and Rico Tubbs & Will Power.

DL: “Here He Comes” (alt)

Bonus DL: “Poison (Tittsworth Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized bell biv devoe, Bmore club, dance remix, girl group, house, nina sky, pitbull, R&B, tittsworth

We’re still not entirely sure it’s a good idea for Amy Winehouse to be helming a label right now (since A: we’d rather have her focusing all her energy on shaping up and recording another album, and B: well, would you want her as a boss?), but then again, what do we know. Her Lioness Records imprint is set to be launched this Fall and it’s first order of business is in releasing the debut album by her 13-year-old goddaughter Dionne Bromfield.

Somewhat un-surprisingly, the London-born Bromfield has been groomed to be a Winehouse mini-me. She may not be crowned with a ratty, on-the-verge-of-collapsing-at-all-times bee hive or look disturbingly under-fed, but she’s definitely presented as a precocious soundalike to her God-mama, down to the beyond-her-years soul pipes and penchant for remaking old R&B/ girl group material (her premiere long-player, Introducing Dionne Bromfield, is an all covers set featuring takes on “Tell Him”, “He’s So Fine” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, amongst other cherished oldies).

The project’s first single is a remake of The Shirelles’ 1963 Top Ten hit “Foolish Little Girl” and, as is the case with a majority of Winehouse’s stuff, it’s impossible not to appreciate. Yeah, it makes for an odd fit as a solo performance (part of the campy charm of the original was the way it was set of as a conversation between friends, the different members of the Shirelles’ trading off leads to play both the song’s jealous ex-girlfriend main role and that character’s well-meaning pals), but that can be overlooked with Bromfield having such sturdy, self-assured vocals and the track rocking this adorable lil’ reggae-for-beginners trot we could listen to over and over for hours.

It’s a decent jump-off for the Lioness label (maybe Amy knows what she’s doing after all!!!), but we gotta admit, we’re more interested in hearing what original stuff Bromfield will be serving up for the follow-up album.

Introducing Dionne Bromfield is due October 12th in the UK.

Uncategorized 60's, amy winehouse, bubblegum, dionne bromfield, girl group, retro, the shirelles, UK soul

The last rapper we’d expect to embed themselves in gospel duo Mary Mary’s Auto-Tuned-slickened crossover jam “God In Me” (think “Blame It On The Alcohol” with a hip, inspirational slant) would be Clipse’s Malice, but here he is on this remix, dropping an intro sixteen that he questionably opens with his nickname tag “Patty Cake” (because, remember, he’s “the baker’s man”) before delving into some Him-appreciating dialogue (“See I was wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked/ Without the Lord, how could I make it?”).

We wouldn’t have predicted this collaboration (ever!!!!), but in the end, we must admit, they make for a pretty cool team.

DL: “God In Me (Remix)” (alt)

Peep the original’s video (featuring cameos from Kanye West, Farnsworth Bentley and…whoa, Holy ’90’s Flashback, Batman!!: Miss “I Love Your Smile” herself, Shanice!!) below:

Uncategorized auto-tune, clipse, girl group, gospel, kearra "kiki" sheard, malice, mary mary

The last time UK-based girl group giants the Sugababes attempted to break out in the States, seemingly the only corner of the globe they had yet to conquer, they were met with some surprisingly disappointing results: uber-catchy 2003 single “Hole In The Head” couldn’t reach higher than #96 on the Billboard Hot 100, leading to an eventual cancellation of their US debut Three.

Now, six years (and millions of worldwide records sold) later, the girls are preparing another go at US fame, and this time seem to have a stronger shot at success now that they’re being backed by Jay-Z’s new Roc Nation imprint. It’s only a shame though, that the first taste of this exciting new career chapter would have to fall on something as meh as new single “Get Sexy”.

As far as overly busy 2009 club-pop goes, “Get Sexy”’s lively electro happenings and dumbed-down lyrics about…well, how “sexy” they are, should easily fall in line with the “Boom Boom Pow”’s and “Patron Tequila”’s currently getting people to work up a sweat on the dance floor (we’ll even give it points for the “billionaire” line and having the nerve to use Right Said Fred’s ’90’s gift “I’m Too Sexy” as inspiration for the hook). But if you’re not listening to it while half-drunk and/ or shaking your tailfeather, the song (if you can even call it one) does little to make the non-Sugababes-fanatics understand why Jigga would think this threesome is such a hot grab.

Now maybe we’re being a little unfair since, to be honest, if this had been performed by someone like Kelis, we would have been showering it with instant praise, but it just seems to us that if the ‘Babes were really serious about a long-running tenure on the US pop charts, they wouldn’t have opted on dropping such a lazily-sculpted “here today/ forgotten a minute later” entry that their far inferior American counterparts Danity Kane and Pussycat Dolls would’ve smartly left on the editing room floor.

Catch the vid for “Get Sexy” below (the single drops August 31st), then snatch up their far more likable remake of Womack & Womack’s oft-covered “Teardrops”.

DL: “Teardrops” (alt)

Uncategorized '90's, electro-pop, girl group, sugababes, uk pop

There’s something about the distant, sleepy-ish tone in twin sister R&B duo Nina Sky’s harmonized vocals that, when attached to a danceable beat, creates the perfect summer jam. Yet despite a sustained presence in the mixtape circuit and various leaks from them over the years feeling like they have the potential to be the ideal follow-up to their irresistable breakout “Move Ya Body”, the girls have yet to release a proper follow-up album to their debut, an LP that dropped FIVE DAMN YEARS AGO!

What’s the deal? It’s understandable why a label would wait to unleash a full-length when the artist isn’t producing anything with a wide-enough appeal, but in the case of Nina Sky, these girls really should have been on their third or fourth near-or-at-Gold-selling disc by now.

Whatever. Trying to fathom the ways of a hopelessly lost music biz won’t get us anything but a headache, but what is completely understood right now is that Nina Sky once again have something catchy on their hands to satisfy listeners through the hot months with their latest gem, “On Some Bullshit”.

Supported by restless production that nods to 80’s freestyle with a slight tinge of Latin influence, the Salaam Remi-helmed “Bullshit” affirms itself as a fizzy delight almost instantly. Yeah, it’s half-baked lyrical plot about coming across a jerk of an old boyfriend bears little that’s arresting, aside from a few needless, albeit brow-raising, expletives (“Cause after all I thought you were a nice guy/ (Really you were a bitch)”), but the paired sound of the two ladies’ breezy melodies remains just as pleasant as they did when they mimicked Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam’s “Can You Feel The Beat” lines over that omnipresent Coolie Dance riddim way back in ‘04.

From their forthcoming, yet (unsurprisingly) still dateless, sophomore collection, The Musical.

Uncategorized 80's, girl group, nina sky, salaam remi, summertime

Every once in awhile, during one of those “old school” mixes radio DJ’s like to spin during the lunch hour, a TLC classic is pulled from the ’90’s vaults, resulting in sighs of bliss over a superior urban music era and the reminded ideal that the Crazy, Sexy and Cool trio were the the last great girl group to have ever done it (Props to Destiny’s Child, but their hard-to-ignore Beyonce-centric ways kind of spoils the whole “group” thing in our eyes).

No, they weren’t as glamorous as some and didn’t have the amazing vocal chops of others, but the elements that T-Boz, Left Eye and Chilli did bring to the table (that unique member make-up; their endlessly pleasurable way of merging hip hop, funk, R&B/ soul and pop; a so-wacky-it-was-brilliant fashion sense; a refreshingly hip, modern-day female perspective; and, of course, the drama) were undeniable, keeping us consistently entertained throughout the ’90’s and early ’00’s and anticipating whatever they came up with next.

Just like those welcomed “throwback” doses of jams like “Creep”, “Baby Baby Baby” and “Waterfalls”, Washington producer/ remixer Yukon Ho helps re-acquaint us with TLC’s appeal thanks to his remix of the group’s ‘99 No. 1 gem “No Scrubs”. His formula isn’t too complicated, as he simply chops up the track’s vocals and beat to strobe-y flickers then underlines it with a contagious bounce, but damn if it’s every stacatto tease doesn’t warm the hearts of us ’90’s R&B Junkies.

DL: “No Scrubs (Yukon Ho Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized '90's, girl group, remix, tlc, washington, yukon ho